Setting up a PCR based method to trace animal species in processed meat products

The identification of food species is becoming a very important issue for the assessment of food composition, necessary for the provision of proper consumer information. The increasing demand for transparency in the food industry derives either from socio-religious or economic reasons and has provoked a strong demand for appropriate detection methods that allow identification of the different components in processed food. The conventional methodologies used for the determination of species origin in food products are mainly based on immunochemical and electrophoretic analysis of proteins and on liquid chromatography techniques. However, immunological and electrophoretic methods cannot distinguish between closely related species and are often not suitable for food products with complex matrixes. Chromatographic techniques allow detection of differences in the percentages of fatty acids but are rather laborious. Recently, DNA-based techniques such as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or DNA hybridisation have been applied to identify meat species. These methods are sensitive and can still be used if the meat has been cured or autoclaved. Therefore, the aim of this study was either to optimise the extraction procedure of genomic DNA or to evaluate the suitability of a PCR method employing mitochondrial primers in detecting the authenticity of processed meat products